Game Night
Recap The group plays games on game night together. Marshall is unbelievably proficient at all forms of all games that they play. Therefore, they decide that Marshall should be the game moderator. Marshall takes this to mean that he is given the liberty to create fun new games for game night. Because Ted asked Marshall to not interrogate his new girlfriend, Victoria, Marshall creates a game called "Marshgammon", which has rules bent around the idea of getting to know her better. Nobody really understands the game, beyond the fact that every time someone says "What?" they have to drink. Lily mentions a girl named Shannon whom she ran into. Barney denies the existence of this girl, even after Lily says that she remembers him, and had a tape. Barney takes the tape in her hand and destroys it in the kitchen of The apartment. Lily tells him that the tape he just destroyed was Ted's graduation, and the real tape was hidden in her purse. The group watches the tape, and Barney steals the tape and runs out of the apartment. Later, they all meet up in the bar where Barney eventually tells the group his most embarrassing story in pieces after they each tell embarrassing stories of their own. Barney reveals to the group his first, and supposedly only, relationship with another girl. Before he became "awesome", he intended to go to the Peace Corps with his girlfriend, Shannon. She describes being in the Peace Corps with him as "legendary". They were both very environmentally aware. One day, a man in a suit enters the coffee shop where the two of them work and orders coffee. He and Barney talk about his girlfriend. Barney feels that the man is rude, stating, "Women aren't objects; they're human beings." They do not go to the Peace Corps. Shannon lies to Barney, and breaks up with him, saying that her father does not want her to go. In reality, the man from the coffee shop hooked up with her, and she wants to move on from Barney. After seeing them kissing, and hearing her explain that he was a boyfriend, he loses his hitherto optimistic outlook on life. He composes a video cassette of him singing to her to get her back. Some time later, in the cafe, Shannon comes back to get her last paycheck. Barney is happy to see her, and runs up to talk to her. He asked if she got the tape, and her boyfriend replies affirmatively. The shock of discovering the identity of the boyfriend causes Barney to stumble, and he storms out the cafe in tears to avoid his teasing. He is walking down the street when someone shoves a flyer advertising suits with the slogan on the top "SUIT UP!" Barney then becomes "awesome" and transforms his appearance to that of the modern day Barney. He cuts his hair, shaves his face, and buys what is likely his first suit. In the present, after he storms out of the apartment, and before he tells the story, he goes back to Shannon, and catches up with her, then has sex with her. Marshall tells his most embarrassing story first, recounting the time he went to the bathroom in Lily's Kindergarten class, not realizing it's a shared bathroom until a boy walks in on him. He stumbles out and falls just as Lily and her class return. Lily adds "And the kids still call him Funny Butt." The next time Barney stops his story, Robin begins her story of falling in horse poop from Return of the Shirt, but Barney rejects it as he already knows that story. Victoria then tells her story. Ted refuses to repeat it for his kids, only saying it involves a hot tub and a squeeze bottle of marshmallow topping. Next up is Lily, telling the story of the time she and Marshall were having "floor sex", not realizing Marshall's mom was still on the phone they'd forgotten to hang up and could hear everything. Finally came Ted. He begins to tell "the Green Testicle Story", but Barney interrupts, saying he wants the story of the Re-return. It goes back to the events of Pilot, when it was just Ted, Barney, and Ranjit drinking at the bar. Ted declares he's going to kiss Robin, but winds up merely vomiting on her doormat. Robin thinks it's sweet that he re-returned for her, but this puts some distance between Ted and Victoria, who had been previously unaware of Ted's feelings for Robin. Continuity *Lily is unsuprised (and seemingly disgusted) when Mrs. Eriksen reveals the cookies she sent her and Marshall contain mayonnaise, which was first mentioned as a signature ingredient of the Eriksen family in , where Lily, in preparing the Eriksen Seven Layer Salad, was similarly off-put by its copious amounts of mayo. *Ted's story of the "re-return" recounts what happens after the events of the . *Marshall is hurt by Ted's claim to being "vomit free since '93" from turning out to be a lie when he admits to throwing up on Robin's doormat in the "Story of the Re-Return". *Robin refers to an incident with her falling in horse poop as her most embarrassing moment, which occurred in . Future References (Contains Spoilers) *Barney's "pre-suit" life is revisited in . It is also referenced in , when Marshall argues that he is a better partner to Lily than Barney is to Robin because he was in a committed relationship when Barney "had a ponytail and was still playing on his mamma's Cassio". *In , Ted and Victoria reminisce about finding Barney's tape and playing Marshgammon, and Ted mentions still not understanding the game, despite having played it multiple times since the events of this episode. *Marshall's prowess at games and his love of creating them are both first mentioned. **The former is referenced again in , where he quickly learns the rules to the Chinese gambling game and helps Barney win, and , where he is seen easily beating others in the car game "Zitch Dog", and , where Marshall beats Lily and Ted at Bridge in Lily's "Front Porch" fantasy. **The latter is referenced again in , , and . *In , Shannon is apparently one of the girl who slaps Marshall during his training with White Flower to learn the strength needed to master the Slap of A Thousand/Million Exploding Suns. Gallery Barney's video.png|Barney's video, recorded by Barney to Shannon. Shannon.png|Shannon Suit Up!.png|The flyer that created Barney Stinson as we know him. Episode 15.jpg Game_Night.png 419300.jpg Shannon2.jpg fa58a1303c48e8311344fa063d3f33a2.jpg Memorable Quotes Notes and Trivia Goofs and Errors *In Ted's re-return flashback, Ranjit is shown wearing a red sweater. However, as seen in the Pilot, Ranjit was wearing a light-blue sweater. *In the , Ted's tie didn't have stripes. *On the bookshelf in The Java Joint, when Barney confronts Shannon on making out with her 'father', there is a copy of Orson Scott Card's Shadow Puppets, a book published in 2002. The flashback is supposed to be in 1998. *Robin is seen taking a drink then a second later the bottle is back on the table and she is picking it up again. *When Ted recalls the places he looked for Barney he says the cigar club. However in , Barney states that Ted has never been to the cigar club. *In The Pineapple Incident, Ted claims he has been "Vomit Free Since '93". In the re-return flashback we see Ted vomit on Robin's doormat, making Ted's claim redundant. * Marshall invented Marshgammon he told the gang the rules of the game were that everytime they say the word What! they'll have to drink, but there are many Whats!! that goes unnoticed. Allusions and Outside References *The scene detailing Barney's change from hippie to suit-wearer is reminiscent of the scene in where first dons the black armor suit of . *In the game night flashbacks, the group plays , , and . *Marshall's game "Marshgammon" contains elements of , , , Poker, , and . Music Other Notes *This is the first episode (other than the pilot) that doesn't start with the opening credits. Guests *Ashley Williams - Victoria *Katie Walder - Shannon * - Greg *Suzie Plakson - Judy Eriksen *Marshall Manesh - Ranjit *Michael McNeely - Screaming Boy Reception References External Links * * * uk:Game Night Category: Episodes Category:Season 1